Chapter 791 - Emerald Poison Blood King

Under normal circumstances, venomous snakes wouldn't attack other creatures without a reason. This meant there was only one possibility—someone had deliberately placed this snake there. Most passersby wouldn't be aware of it, and even those at the high levels of the Nascent Transformation Realm would fall prey if they weren't careful.

"Who's there? Come out!" Liu Wuxie caught sight of a dark patch of dried blood beneath the boulder. This meant a battle must've occurred there not long ago, and the blood had yet to be cleaned.

"Hehehe...I didn't expect you to be on such a high alert," an eerie voice echoed from the surroundings, like a ghostly wind rustling the trees.

"You can't fool me!" Liu Wuxie roared and swung the Heretic Blade at a tree far away. The blade aura he unleashed sliced through the air without resistance and split the targeted tree apart.

A black silhouette emerged from behind the tree, moving ten meters sideways to evade the attack.

Liu Wuxie finally got a clear look at the other party—a man draped in a black robe, his entire body shrouded in darkness, with only a pair of cold, piercing eyes visible. What made the sight even more unsettling was the several venomous snakes slithering from his sleeves, their movements smooth and menacing.

This frightened Fiery into darting into Liu Wuxie's embrace. Though its divine beast's aura could deal with ordinary profound beasts, it was futile against profound beasts bound by soul contracts. They could no longer be considered ordinary profound beasts, as their wills had long been enslaved.

"This is interesting. You're only at the first-level Nascent Transformation Realm, but you managed to sense my presence," the black-robed figure said, looking at Liu Wuxie with venomous gazes.

Though his face remained obscured, anyone could tell he was ruthless. The reason why he concealed his face was probably because he feared being recognized.

Liu Wuxie stood about thirty meters from the tree, and all divine senses were restricted to ten meters. The fact Liu Wuxie could detect him was no easy feat.

"Who are you?" Liu Wuxie lowered the Heretic Blade but stayed alert. He had a feeling this opponent wasn't an easy one. The only visible feature of that man was the number on his robe—4,999.

"You can call me the Emerald Poison Blood King," the black-robed man said in an eerie voice, which caused the surrounding temperature to fall as soon as he spoke.

Almost instantly, the surrounding vegetation began to wither and turned black.

"What potent poison!" Liu Wuxie was inwardly shocked, but it soon changed to a smirk. After all, no one could surpass She Bishi when it came to poison, who was the progenitor of all poison.

"I know who you are. You're the one who took first place in all three stages. I have no interest in your jade token, but I can spare your life as long as you're willing to swear allegiance to me," the Emerald Poison Blood King said in his eerie tone.

As Liu Wuxie held the number seven, killing him would only award him one point, which was insignificant. But it was an entirely different matter if Liu Wuxie was willing to swear allegiance to him. This meant he could extract the secrets of a chosen one from the latter. Or better yet, he could force Liu Wuxie to sign a soul contract and make him a servant for life.

"You bark a lot. If you want a fight, come on!" Liu Wuxie replied. He couldn't be bothered to waste time with the other party, who was only at the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm.

Someone else in Liu Wuxie’s position might have been wary, but who in the entire universe was more versed in the use of poison than She Bishi? The poison essence Liu Wuxie had refined was the very origin of all poisons.

"Since you’re courting death, I’ll grant your wish!" The Emerald Poison Blood King growled, his fury boiling over. He had slain no fewer than ten participants in just one day—some fell to the bites of venomous snakes, while he had personally killed the rest.

But instead of attacking, the Emerald Poison Blood King reached into his breast pocket and took out an emerald flute. He lifted it to his lips and began to play it, releasing a high-pitched melody that carried over great distances.

Liu Wuxie wanted to cover his ears as the sound was grating, sending shivers down his spine.

Shortly after, rustling sounds filled the area. Fiery peeked out briefly, only to quickly retreat into Liu Wuxie’s clothes, sensing the danger. The slithering grew louder, and within moments, countless venomous snakes began emerging from the surroundings, slowly closing in on Liu Wuxie.

However, Liu Wuxie merely stood there and allowed the venomous snakes to surround him. In just a breath, there were thousands of venomous snakes in the surroundings, each varying different sizes, with the largest being ten meters long and the smallest being no longer than a chopstick.

Yet, the smallest ones were generally the most deadly ones.

The Twin-Eared Serpents bred by She Bishi were no larger than a human's index finger. But they had long been extinct and rarely seen on the True Martial Continent.

This sight made Liu Wuxie's scalp tingle. Despite comprehending the poison essence, he still couldn't accept this disturbing sight. The metallic scent of blood in the air only made it even more nauseating for him.

"Brat, I will let you experience the agony of being bitten by countless snakes," said the Emerald Poison Blood King.

Just moments ago, he had faced someone at the pinnacle of the Nascent Transformation Realm who had tried to resist only to be consumed by the venomous snakes. As flight was impossible here, the victims could only try to cut through the swarm of snakes.

The Emerald Poison Blood King lowered the flute and smiled at Liu Wuxie.

"Do you think you can kill me relying on these venomous snakes?" Liu Wuxie quickly got used to the disturbing scene, and a mocking smile rose on his lips.

"Brat, let me see how long you can keep up your arrogance!" The Emerald Poison Blood King waved his hand as the venomous snakes began leaping into the air, pouncing at Liu Wuxie. Their movements were erratic and unpredictable; there was no pattern and clear attack trajectory, which meant conventional techniques were useless against them.

This was why so many had fallen victim to the Emerald Poison Blood King.

But Liu Wuxie merely stood there and allowed the venomous snakes to attack him.

This surprised the Emerald Poison Blood King. Liu Wuxie didn't look like a fool, and it was hard to fathom why he wasn't retaliating instead of standing there. Was he going to allow the venomous snakes to consume him?

When the first snake reached Liu Wuxie, an ancient aura swept out from him. That was the ancient deity's power, and Liu Wuxie unleashed the power belonging to She Bishi.

When he released it, all the venomous snakes fell from the sky and cowered at Liu Wuxie's feet. She Bishi was the progenitor of poison, and all poison in the world would bow to him.

The Emerald Poison Blood King trembled from afar and nearly fell to the ground. He couldn't believe all the venomous snakes he had raised were afraid of Liu Wuxie, which made no sense.

Without hesitation, the Emerald Poison Blood King raised the emerald flute to his lips and began to play. The venomous snakes reacted instantly, twitching as they attempted to follow his commands. But the fear of the ancient aura radiating from Liu Wuxie overpowered their instincts to attack, leaving them paralyzed.

"What sorcery is this? What have you done to my technique!" The Emerald Poison Blood King said with a grave expression as he lowered the flute. He knew the snakes were no longer under his command, and it was pointless even if he continued to play the flute. The snakes would only collapse, unable to withstand the flute's music.

The flute controlled their will, but excessive control would cause their will to collapse into madness and fall into a frenzy to kill each other. Their fear for Liu Wuxie had become an instinct, and they wouldn't get close to him even if they lost their will.

The ten examiners looked at each other with their mouths agape in shock.

"He never fails to surprise us!" Many examiners were filled with praise for Liu Wuxie. Unlike others who killed indiscriminately during the assessment, Liu Wuxie rarely initiated a fight, and every kill he had made along the way had been in self-defense.

"There's a surge of ancient power hidden within him, and the snakes are terrified of it," Qu Su remarked as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. He knew Liu Wuxie hadn’t merely relied on his aura to intimidate the snakes but instead on a mysterious surge of power deep within him that triggered their fear.

"I can sense it as well, but that power is weird. It's unlike anything we've encountered before," said another elder. Despite their strong cultivation, they weren't aware of the Witcher Clan's existence, whose legacy predated humanity.

"This is interesting!" The ten examiners' eyes were glued to the battleground, and they couldn't even be bothered with battles between True Profound Realm cultivators.

Though the fight between True Profound Realm cultivators was more spectacular, it lacked wonder compared to Liu Wuxie's fight. It was more interesting to see someone overcome the odds to defeat his opponent.

"It would be rude of me not to return the greeting. Let’s see how you like being devoured by your own snakes," Liu Wuxie said, a faint smirk curling on his lips. His mouth moved softly as he chanted in the witcher clan’s ancient language, a forgotten power drawn from She Bishi’s memory.

The thousands of snakes began moving toward the Emerald Poison Blood King at his command. The latter was placed in a difficult position, not knowing whether to stay or leave.

If he fled now, he would lose control of thousands of venomous snakes—snakes he had painstakingly trained. Worse, the humiliation of being outmaneuvered by someone else commanding his own creatures would destroy his reputation.

Most importantly, more venomous snakes slithered out from the surrounding area. These weren’t ones the Emerald Poison Blood King had trained—they were native to the mountain range, responding solely to Liu Wuxie’s summons.

Many of these venomous snakes were rarely seen in the True Martial Continent, making their sudden appearance even more remarkable. In mere moments, their numbers had swelled to tens of thousands, creating a truly spectacular and terrifying scene as they swarmed the area like a living flood.

The Emerald Poison Blood King's eyes widened in disbelief, hoping he could grow a pair of wings and flee at this moment.

Even the three venomous snakes in his sleeves suddenly turned on him, sinking their venomous fangs into his arm.

"ARGH!" The Emerald Poison Blood King screamed with blood dripping from his arm. He quickly drew a dagger to slice the three snakes' heads.

Even after being decapitated, the snakes' corpses didn't die immediately and convulsed on the ground.

The venomous snakes crept closer, their hissing growing louder, and the Emerald Poison Blood King knew his time was running out. If he didn’t act quickly, they would swarm him completely.

His technique had turned on him. He didn't hesitate to reach into his interspatial ring and retrieve sulfur, the bane of snakes. He quickly scattered the sulfur around, forming a circle that protected him.

The snakes stopped and no longer dared to approach him as they lingered outside the circle of sulfur. With that, the battlefield fell into a tense standstill once again.